References in Blood

"Our influences are as varied as the genre. You will recognize traces of masters such as Stephen King, Clive Barker, Edgar Allen Poe, Sam Raimi, George Romero, John Carpenter, and, of course, HP Lovecraft. Because we are all such aficionados of horror films and literature, you can expect as many subtle tributes as we can come up with."--BloodWebsite

This article is to list the various references to outside media within the Blood series. For references made to Blood in third-party works see: "Blood in Other Media".

"What we have here is a failure to coagulate." - From Cool Hand Luke (the quote is actually "what we have here is a failure to communicate". 'Coagulate' refers to blood, which congeals and clots when exposed to the air.)

A spork is a plastic utensil which combines the tines of a fork with a spoon.

Cousteau is the last name of a famous underwater naturalist, who died around the time of the game's release. This code grants 200% health and a diving suit.

JoJo makes you temporarily drunk, and is referenced throughout the game as an idiot circus boy - which has been variously supposed as homages to JoJo the Dog Faced Boy, the film Tommy Boy or other sources.

Krueger is the last name of the main antagonist in the Nightmare on Elm Street film series. Krueger died by being burned alive. The code gives you 200% health and sets you on fire.

Voorhees grants temporary invulnerability, and is the last name of the main antagonist in the Friday the 13th series.

Sterno is a chemical fuel designed to be burned from a can to heat small objects. It contains a chemical that can be used to produce an potent alcoholic drink, often used in poorer communities (like moonshine). This drink can cause methanol poisoning, one of the symptoms being blindness.

Eva Galli is a featured character in the movie and novel Ghost Story. The code allows you to walk through walls like a ghost.

Mario is the main character from the Nintendo made Mario series (and associated games). The code allows you to warp levels, a feature of the Mario games.

Phantasm - the Morningside Funeral Home is of the same name as the funeral parlour featured in the movie, as well as both mortuaries being infested with zombies. The Cultists may have also been partially inspired by the hooded "lurkers" from the film.

The Crow - There is an empty grave with a tombstone labelled "Draven". James O'Barr's movie The Crow features the main character Eric Draven, who is a resurrected man seeking vengeance on those who killed him (similar to the theme of the game).

Macbeth - Caleb uses a bloody sink in the morgue and says "Out, out, damned spot!", a popular misquote.

Repeated tries to use the sink results in "But I like my hands bloody!", a variation of a popular childhood excuse for not washing one's hands.

Kool-Aid - When drinking from an IV filled with blood, Caleb says "this is better than Kool-Aid". Kool-Aid is a drink made from a powdered fruit concentrate and sugar, invented in 1927 (called Kool-Ade at the time, and only one year before the setting of Blood).

The Simspons - The person on the ringing phone says "May I speak to Mr. Jass, first name Hugh". This is a reference to the prank calls that Bart would perform on Moe in the early seasons of The Simpsons.

Demolition Man - Looking at rats cooking on a grill, "Mmm, rat burgers". In the movie, residents of the slums make hamburgers out of rats. Could also be a reference to the 1986b-horror movieTroll, where a similar quote was used.

The Cask of Amontillado - Cask Of Amontillado Pub & Grille is the name of eating place at the station, and another Poe reference. Also appears in E5M2: Old Opera House.

Something Wicked This Way Comes - Before opening the door to the passenger car, you can hear a cultist call out "Next stop, Green Town." Green Town is the city where "Something Wicked This Way Comes" takes place, which refers to the next level, Dark Carnival.

E1M4: Dark Carnival

Duke Nukem's dismembered corpse in Blood

The Fugitive - In a secret area within the train wreckage, there is an orange jumpsuit hung on the wall, labelled "Kimble". Dr. Richard Kimble is the main character in "The Fugitive", a falsely-accused convict who escapes from a wrecked train to seek out the man who killed his wife.

Something Wicked This Way Comes - The merry-go-round refers to the carousel in this novel, Cooger & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show, which makes people get younger as they ride.

Freaks - In the freak show, there are ambient voices chanting "One of us! One of us!" This iconic chant is said when the members of the freak show are toasting the new (normal) bride of one of the freaks.

Duke Nukem 3-D - The iconic character, Duke Nukem, can be found behind the snake pit in JoJo arena. He is dismembered and wrapped in chains, hanging from the ceiling. Upon seeing him, Caleb says "I've got time to play with you!" (a reference to Duke Nukem's line "Don't have time to play with myself" from the game's first level after encountering an arcade machine with Duke Nukem II). If the player presses the use key, Caleb will make his body swing on the chain and say "Ooh, shake it baby!" (one of Duke Nukem's signature lines, said to strippers, that game's equivalent to Innocents). Duke Nukem 3-D was the precursor to Blood on the Build engine.

Dead Calm - There is a dog nailed to the wall with a harpoon. In the movie Rae accidentally shoots her dog instead of her attacker, Hughie, with a harpoon gun, nailing it to the cabin door.

E2M2: The Lumber Mill

Star Wars - When Caleb falls down a toilet he says, "What a wonderful smell I've discovered." This is based on a line said by Han Solo when he falls into the Death Star's trash compactor.

E2M3: Rest for the Wicked

Psycho - There is a silhouette in the window of a house. In Psycho, Norman Bates's mother is only seen as a silhouette in their house. This appears to use the same sprite movement as the Cloak of Shadow.

E2M4: The Overlooked Hotel

Frozen Jack Torrence

The Shining - Caleb says "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Jack Torrance says this when searching for his wife and child.

The Shining - In the hedge maze, Caleb comes upon a frozen corpse holding an axe, upon which, Caleb says "Heeeeeeere's Johnny!". This corpse is Jack Torrance, who died in the same way in the movie. In the code, there is an alternate sound clip of Caleb saying "Heeeeeeere's Caleb!" This scene also appears in Blood II; when the player finds the original Blood being played on computers in the sequel they are showing this scene.

The Shining - The entire level of a snow-covered haunted hotel is based on the movie (the hotel in this film is the Overlook Hotel in the mountains in Colorado, while this level is in the arctic).

Se7en - There is a secret room with a blood stain on a bed, air fresheners hanging from the ceiling, and the word 'Sloth' painted on the wall. In the movie Se7en, in which a serial killer commits murders based on the seven deadly sins, the victim for sloth is killed by being bound to his bed for a year.

Gone With the Wind - In the same room as above, when Caleb encounters the carriage, he says "I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' no babies, Miss Scarlett!" This is said by Precious, the slave when Melanie is about to have her baby and there are no doctors present.

E3M7: The Hall of Cerberus

Stephen King's Cujo - When the level starts, you hear a dog barking in the distance, and Caleb says "Cujo?"

Friday the 13th - The entire level is based on the Friday the 13th film series. There is an ambient sound of "ki, ki, ki, ma, ma, ma." In one of the cabins, a hockey goalie mask and machete hang on the wall and there is a decapitated head on a table, surrounded by candles (Pamela Voorhees, Jason's mother). Finally, there is raft floating in the middle of a lake, a homage to the end of the first movie.

X-Files, The Host episode - "The Flukeman Was Here" is written on the wall inside the secret with the 2 trapped souls where you have to blow up the gate underwater to get in.

Casablanca - If you try to use the piano near the entrance of the Opera house, Caleb will utter "Don't play it again, Sam". Also when standing in front of the mirror, in the dressing room, he says "Here's not looking at you, kid".

E5M4: Lost Monastery

Duke Nukem 3-D- The body of Duke Nukem can also be found on this level. Unlike on E1M4, Caleb does not make any exclamations about it and cannot 'shake' the body.

Innocents say to the player, "God damned creatures of the night", and one man next to a burning barrel says "Halloween's not 'til mañana!" These are both taken from the 1994 film The Crow. Gideon's name is also shared by one of the antagonists of the film.

Several weapons use cans of insecticide called "Die Bug Die" as ammunition, either as incendiary devices or as a poison. This is likely a reference to the The X-Files episode "War of the Coprophages", where similar cans of pesticide can be seen. A juvenile novel called Die Bug, Die! was also written by Les Martin based on the episode.

"Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens. Bright coppered kettles and warm woolen mittens. Brown paper packages tied up with string. These are a few of my favourite things! ...god what a crappy song....." - "My Favourite Things" from the musical The Sound of Music.

Predator - In the underground maintenance tunnels, there is a secret room which appears to belong to a Predator from the movie series. There is green glowing blood on the floor, several wall-mounted skulls with spinal columns attached, a round disc weapon on the table, and two Xenomorph heads (ala Alien versus Predator). There is also a poster for the computer game Unreal.

Spaceballs - the self-destruct being located in the toilet is similar to a scene in the film.

C1L10: Hard Hat Area

Half-Life and Sin - The introductory text says that there is a sign out front that reads "OCT. 30, GIDEON DOES HIS DISSERTATION ON THE RITUAL CRIME OF SIN AND HOW TO GET AWAY WITH IT. GET HERE EARLY AND YOU'LL HEAR HIS MINOR SYMPOSIUM ON A VALVE'S INCREDIBLY ONEROUS HALF-LIFE!" SiN is a computer game released by Ritual Entertainment. Half-Life is a video game developed by Valve Corporation. Both were released at around the same time as Blood II.

The Shining - In a long corridor, there are two twin girls in identical dresses. If Caleb approaches them, they will disappear, making them hard to spot if the player moves in on them too fast. However, they can be viewed in detail with the sniper rifle scope or binoculars. There is also an axe embedded in a door upstairs. When the player approaches it, Caleb says "Get ready for a surprise. Heeeere is Caleb!"

Hamlet - Gideon is shown narrating as a talking skull, commenting that he may one day "serve as a muse for some unfortunate playwright who wanders this way", referring to both William Shakespeare and the skull of Yorick in his play.

C5L2: Iota Eta Pi

Re-Animator - Ophelia says that her college was invaded by zombies due to the Cabal's anger at one of the genius students creating a reanimation serum. This is a homage to Re-Animator, which has a similar plot.